Improved metallic sheathing



UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREV VHY'lOCK, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

NIPROVED METALLIC SHEATHING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,620, dated October 29, 186i.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW WHYTocK, of l2 Little St. Andrew Street, Upper St. Martins Laue, in the county of Middlesex, England,a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, have invented a new and useful or Improved Manufacture of Metallic Sheathing; and I do hereby declare the nature of the said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof-that is to say:

rlhis invention has relation to improvements in coating sheets of metal with other metals. Heretofore sheets of metal have been coated by dipping them separately into the molten ,metal used for coating, and it is well known that for various purposes, particularly for sheathing of roofs and the bottoms of vessels, lengths of coated sheet metal are required greater than the length of a slngle sheet, and that in such cases it has been usual to connect several sheets together by grooving, linking, riveting, or otherwise after they have been separately coated with the metal or other coating substance.

In performing my invention I unite sheets of iron or of other metal together permanently at their edges by any of the ordinary means above mentioned beforethey have been coated. The joined or connected series of plates or sheets are then immersed, as hereinafter se't forth, into the bath of melted metal or other substance with which they are to be coated, by which means not only will the general surfaces be coated, but the permanent joints Will also be coated and the joints or seams thereby be more advantageously made, and at the same time the connecting of several sheets or plates together before coating them Will facilitate their being moved into and from the melted coatin g metal or substance, and Will also facilitate the movement of a succession of plates into and through a hot chamber in order that they may become heated and bc caused in passing out of the hot chamber to enter the iiux (floating in the bath of coating metal) in a more highly-heated state, where by the coating of the united sheets or plates Will be more effectually accomplished. By thus joining or connecting together numerous sheets or plates of iron or other metal the manufacturer will be enabled to supply his customers with great lengths of coated sheet metal, from which may be cut any desired lengths, and the user willbe saved much of the trouble of connecting the parts, and the manufacturer Will, by connecting the sheets or plates permanently, be advantaged by rendering the process of coating more continuous as compared With coating the sheets or plates separately.

Having thus stated the nature of my said invention,-I will proceed more fully to describe the manner of performing the same.

The carrying out of this invention consists in connecting numerous sheets of metal together, so that there will (except at the time of starting and finishing) be part of the Whole length immersed in the bath, (part of which is coated and part of which has not entered the bath,) and so that as each part becomes coated and is progressively drawn out of the bath the uncoated parts Will be moved into the bath, the part in the bath being kept stretched. lVhen about to coat a series of two or more sheets of iron or other met-al, (which are to remain permanently connected together,) the edges of the several sheets are to be connected in a permanent manner by any of themeans ordinarily resorted to by tinmen and others when joining sheet metal, such as by grooving, linking, riveting, or otherwise, and so as to produce a fixed joint without soldeigand which joint or connection between the ends of each two neighboring sheets will in each case be improved and rendered more sound by being coated with the melted coating metal or material contained in the bath. The desired length of a series of sheets being made and connected together, each end of such series has attached to it wires or strips of metal, or chains, or other connecting-pieces, in order to lead the first end. of the long series through the bath and to conduct that end round a drum or otherwise, so as to keep the series extended and tightly pulled on,Which is important throughout the process, and the wires, strips, or chains, or other connecting-pieces of metal fixed at the other end of the long series of combined sheets are to hold the last end of such series until such last end has passed through the bath and has become cooled. The sheets are,

when they enter the bath, to be in a clean state and free from scale or oxide, all of which is Well understood when coating separate sheets, as heretofore, with like metals or materials, and such cleansing separately forms no part of my invention; nor does the coating With zinc, tin, or other material separately form any part of myinvention. By thus having such long series of connected sheets not only will the process of coating be greatly facilitated, but, Where the thickness of the metal requires it, the process of drying and heating such connected sheets before they in succession come up to and enter the bath of melted coating metal or material Will also be facilitated, as the same may be progressively and with greater convenience moved through an oven or heated chamber, so as to enter the bath at any desired temperature, which cannot be done with equal convenience when the workmen have, as heretofore,by1 hand to move separate sheets into and from the bath of melted metal or material. The first end of a series of connected sheets is caused to descend into a bath and pass under a roller or bar (immersed below the melted metal or material in the bath) disposed near the side of the bath where such first end enters. From thence it (the said rst end) is passed under another bar or roller (also below the melted material) placed near the exit side or end of the bath. Then it should be led up out of the bath by the aid of the Wires, strips, chains, or other connecting-pieces of metal, the other ends of which are attached to a drum or other receiver. The other parts of the series of sheets are Wound around another drum or holder, and the connected series of sheets is Wound off one holder onto the other, the surfaces of the connected sheets becoming coated as the series progressively passes through the bath.

Having thus described the nature of my invention and the manner of performing the same, I claim* The above-described new or improved article of manufacture as made of two or more sheets of metal permanently united together and subsequently covered or coated With another metal, substantially in the manner set forth.

ANDREW NVHYTOGK.

Witnesses:

J. W. HAWEs, JOSHUA R. GIDDINGs. 

